This invention relates, in general, to shopping carts, and in particular to different features of a collapsible compartment that can be used as a baby seat in a shopping cart.
Already known in the prior art, there are various constructions of collapsible compartments for shopping carts of the type having a basket provided with a swinging rear wall which hingedly swings upwardly into the basket to permit nesting of like carts. These collapsible compartments, which are either used as a baby seat or as an additional basket for goods bought, are mounted to the swinging rear wall, and are caused to collapse during nesting of the carts. They are so designed that when a shopping cart is removed from a nested assembly, the collapsed compartment is maintained in a substantially collapsed position. It is then necessary for the users wishing to use the compartment to open the same. As mentioned in the applicant""s prior laid-open application CA 2,210,416, this process, which may seem very simple at first sight, may become pretty complex, especially when the users are carrying an infant in one arm and are using a single hand to try to open the compartment. The collapsed element may also cause injury to the fingers of the user. It is thus desirable for certain types of shopping carts that the collapsible compartment be maintained in a usable form for the placement of an infant or goods within the same.
In its prior laid-open application CA 2,210,416, the applicant disclosed such a collapsible compartment which comprises abutment projections projecting sideways in the plane of the backrest and extending over a top edge of the side walls of the basket of the shopping cart. These projections prevent the backrest from collapsing inside the basket. A pair of link arms which hingedly connects the rear gate to the backrest above a bottom edge thereof is also provided for maintaining the backrest in a substantially vertical position.
It is also common in the prior art to provide the collapsible compartment with a pivotable panel for covering the leg through holes in the rear gate. Such a pivotable panel is normally movable between a horizontal position to be used as a seat and a vertical position to cover the leg holes in the rear gate to be used as an additional compartment for goods. A helical spring, operatively mounted adjacent to the panel, is often provided for urging the panel in the vertical position. One drawback with such biasing means is that it often breaks rapidly. Also, it may cause injury to an infant playing with it, and that even more if it is broken.
Examples of prior art collapsible compartments are given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,318; U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,774; U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,782; U.S. Pat. No.4,544,171; U.S. Pat. No.4,046,394; CA 2,091,969; WO 95/03201; and Canadian laid-open patent application no. 2,210,416.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved collapsible compartment for a shopping cart.
According to one aspect of the present invention, this object is achieved with a pivoting assembly for a collapsible compartment of a shopping cart, the collapsible compartment including a swinging rear wall and fixed side walls of the shopping cart. The pivoting assembly comprises a pivoting base wall having a first edge for pivotal connection to the swinging rear wall and a second edge opposite the first edge. The pivoting assembly further comprises a pivoting front wall having a first edge for pivotal attachment between the side walls of the shopping cart, and a second edge, opposite the first edge thereof, pivotally connected to the second edge of the pivoting base wall.
An advantage of this pivoting assembly over the prior applicant""s collapsible compartment described above is that since the first edge of the front wall is for pivot attachment between the side walls of the basket, the link arms described above are no longer required to maintain the front wall in a substantially vertical position.
According to another aspect of the present invention, this object is achieved with a pivoting panel assembly for a collapsible compartment of a shopping cart, the collapsible compartment including a swinging rear wall of the shopping cart, and a base wall having a first edge connected to the swinging rear wall. The pivoting panel assembly comprises a spring element having a first end portion for abutment against the swinging rear wall, opposite a second end portion. The pivoting panel assembly further comprises a panel having a first edge for pivot connection to the swinging rear wall on a pivot axis coaxial with a folding line of the spring element separating the first and second end portion thereof. The panel is pivotable between a first position where the panel rests over the base wall and a second position where the panel is covering leg holes in the swinging rear wall. The first edge of the panel has a section underneath the panel for receiving the second end portion of the spring element to urge the panel in the second position. Retaining means are provided for releasably retaining the panel in the first position.
As can be appreciated, the second end portion of the spring element, which lies underneath the panel, is out of reach of a child sitting in the compartment and thus one advantage of a panel assembly according to the present invention is that it greatly reduces the risk of injuries caused by the spring element.
According to a further aspect of the invention, a plastic shopping cart is proposed. The plastic shopping cart comprises:
a wheeled frame;
a basket mounted elevated on the frame and including a bottom wall, two side walls, a front wall and a swinging rear wall to permit nesting of the cart with like shopping carts, the swinging rear wall having an inside face facing towards the front wall of the basket and a spring receiving groove in the inside face thereof, the spring receiving groove being vertically and centrally positioned in the swinging rear wall;
a collapsible compartment inside the basket including the side walls and the swinging rear wall of the basket, and a pivoting assembly comprising:
a pivoting base wall having a first edge with at least two molded hooking members each for removable pivot connection of the first edge to a pivot axis in the swinging rear wall, and a second edge opposite the first edge;
a pivoting front wall having a first edge for pivot connection between the side walls of the shopping cart, and a second edge, opposite the first edge thereof, pivotally connected to the second edge of the pivoting base wall, the first edge of the front wall having two opposite side ends each consisting in an extension member extending at substantially right angle with the front wall, and the front wall having a pivot member projecting sidewards from each of said extension members for insertion into a pivot housing provided in a corresponding side wall of the basket proximate a top edge thereof, the pivot member being sized to freely rotate in the pivot housing;
a panel having a first edge with two opposite side ends and a pivot shaft projecting sidewards from each side end of the panel for insertion into a notch provided on the inside face of the swinging rear wall, the panel being pivotable on a pivot axis between a first position where the panel rests over the base wall and a second position where the panel is covering leg holes in the swinging rear wall, the panel being made of a one piece material and comprising a top side, an underside and a spring receiving housing molded centrally at the first edge thereof underneath the panel, the housing including a slanted top wall sloping upwardly from the top side of the panel towards the first edge thereof;
actuating means for actuating a pivotal movement of the panel towards the second position upon a forward displacement of the swinging rear wall, the actuating means comprising:
an abutment rib molded on each pivot shaft of the panel below the pivot axis thereof;
a cam like projection molded on two of the at least two hooking members of the base wall and projecting upwardly from the first edge of the base wall for engaging a corresponding one of said abutment ribs of the panel upon forward displacement of the swinging rear wall and thereby producing motion of the panel towards the second position;
a spring blade to urge the panel in the second position, the spring blade having:
a first end portion for insertion in the spring receiving groove and for abutment against the swinging rear wall, and
a second end portion opposite the first end portion, for abutment against the top wall of the spring receiving housing of the panel to urge the panel in the second position, the first and second end portion being separated by a folding line of the spring element coaxial with the pivot axis of the panel; and
a retaining means for releasably retaining the panel in the first position, the retaining means comprising a hooking member projecting from the underside of the panel, the hooking member being removably engageable to a hook anchoring member provided in the base wall.